Obesity in the United States: A Tale of Two Davids

David Pre USA

David after spending 2 years in the USA

Sponsored by McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy's

Someone just sent me the above joke, which is obviously self-explanatory, but what struck me is that we Americans are so bent out of shape eating pizza and pasta; yet, this is a normal way of eating in Italy and the Italians who live in Italy are not fat.

I lived in Italy for a year. I couldn't believe the abundance in which the Italians ate. At lunch and dinner, they would have what the called their first plate (appetizer), their second plate (main meal) and a dessert. Here are the main differences I observed between how Americans eat and how Italians eat:

1. Italians sit for long periods of time conversing while they eat. They get into large political debates in the middle of meals that can last for a couple hours - even longer. No one takes the conversation personally. It's all part of the banter and they enjoy it. I don't need to tell you that we Americans, on the other hand, gobble down our meals without a second thought about the quality of our food.

2. The food in Italy is minimally processed and grown in rich soil, unlike us, who eat highly processed food in mineral deficient soil.

3. The portion sizes in Italy aer much smaller than in the United States. I don't know if we eat so much out of a sense of entitlement. In fact, I'd love to hear your view on why we eat such large portions. What I do know, though, is that these large portions are making us obese.